A common manifestation of Parkinson's disease or of other related nervous system disorders in a patient is the occurrence of an akinetic episode. A patient who experiences an akinetic episode freezes in place or exhibits a form of start hesitation. The akinetic episodes momentarily may affect the arms, feet or legs; however it is more common for the patient to loose movement in the feet and legs. During an akinetic episode the patient's ability to walk is impaired and is unable to make forward progress. The freezing, formally termed akinesia paradoxica usually lasts for seconds to minutes, but in the extreme can last for hours. The neurologist Joseph Jankovic M.D. fully describes the phenomena of akinesia paradoxica in Clinical Neuropharmacology, Vol. 5, Suppl. 1, pg. S21, 1982.
There are a number of known clinical methods to combat the affects of akinesia paradoxical, most notably the use of external stimuli which “tricks” the brain to end the akinetic episode. Among the external stimuli are sound cues, such as the playing of marching music, introducing loud noise, or having the patient count. Additional forms of external stimuli are visual cues such as drawing or projecting a line or placing objects in front of the patient and having them step over the visual cue.
The method and system of projecting a line as an external stimuli for a patient in tandem with the use of a walker was introduced by Perry et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,575,294), who mount a projection device on the body of the walker, which generates a line on the ground or floor in front of the patient, and acts as the stimuli for the person to step over and end the akinetic episode. The projection device is activated by a push button, and may also include a timer that automatically extinguishes the projection light after several seconds. However, the invention disclosed by Perry et al. fails to disclose a method and device which regulates and actuates the projection device of the present invention.
The basic structure of the walking stabilizer was disclosed by Miller (U.S. Pat. No. 5,538,268), however new enhancements to the braking system for the implementation of the present invention are disclosed in this application.